Relive the nostalgic feel of physical cartridges with a unique design by Recalbox

You’re probably already familiar with the Card Reader and its RecalCards. The idea is simple: allow Recalbox users to rediscover that old-school gesture by choosing a physical RecalCard cartridge and inserting it into a dedicated reader to launch the game of their choice.

The RecalCards concept

RecalCards are collectible cards designed specifically by and for Recalbox. Blank when you receive them, you can program them yourself by telling your Recalbox which game to launch when a specific RecalCard is inserted.

A new exclusive perk for Patrons

Our Tier 2 and Tier 3 Patrons — supporting the Recalbox project via Patreon — will now enjoy a brand-new perk directly linked to these RecalCards: if you’re a Tier 2 Patron, you’ll receive one Exclusive Collector RecalCard at home every two months; if you’re a Tier 3 Patron, you’ll receive three Exclusive Collector RecalCards per shipment!

These RecalCards are entirely designed by the Recalbox team, with one simple goal: instantly recognize the games that bring us together today. Street Fighter, Earthworm Jim, Super Mario World, Metroid… 16 RecalCards are planned for the first season!

Behind the scenes of the design

Vote for your favorite designs

If you’re signed up on Patreon (even with free access), you’ve probably seen the recent updates about this, including a vote that allowed our Patrons to choose their favorite visuals for the RecalCards dedicated to them. We submitted 6 votes to guide our designs, but the designs for 10 other RecalCards are already finalized — you’ll discover them when you receive them.

These cards are exclusive and will not be sold on the Recalbox store. Of course, no games are included with the RecalCards: you’ll need to assign games from your own library to the cards, which simply launch the game upon insertion and close it when you remove the RecalCard from the Card Reader.

Voting is in full swing on Patreon

A complete collection for everyone

Knowing our community’s love for collecting, we’ve thought of everything. Tier 2 Patrons will indeed receive all the cards from the current Season, just over a slightly longer period than Tier 3 Patrons, who receive more cards per shipment.

And don’t worry: if you become a Patron during the season, you’ll still start your collection with RecalCard #1.

If you subscribed in November 2025 following the announcement of this perk during the Recal’Talk (a Discord video session with the Recalbox team dedicated to Patrons), we’ll of course take your seniority into account for the first shipments. 😉

We hope this new perk will delight you and that you’ll enjoy discovering the designs as much as we enjoyed creating them. And if you ever want to design your own RecalCards, don’t forget we’ve made the RecalCard Gen available!